BIRMINGHAM WAS AN ALL-AMERICA CITY 40 YEARS AGO — WILL IT DO BETTER THIS TIME?

In 1971, the City of Birmingham approached the centennial of its founding having experienced a decade of profound change. In conjunction with economic, social and political upheaval that took place nationally during the 1960s, the unique interplay of events and circumstances in Birmingham — including pivotal Civil Rights activities and the related change in the city’s form of government — resulted in a convergence of forces that provided a constant backdrop for Birmingham’s continuing efforts to find its civic identity.

Those efforts received a definitive boost in January 1971, when Birmingham won an “All-America City” award from the National Civic League. That designation was important to the city’s business and political leadership, which collectively was convinced that the first real national recognition of Birmingham since the world-shaking events of 1963 would tap new reserves of civic pride and give outsiders pause to reconsider their image of the city.

Birmingham had entered the new decade with high hopes and strong prospects. An ever-increasing flow of federal funds fueled the growing prominence of the University of Alabama at Birmingham — which had only been chartered as a four-year, degree-granting institution in 1967, and by 1976 would become the city’s single largest employer — and Southern Research Institute. Service-sector jobs were well on the way to supplanting manufacturing as the linchpin of the local labor force, driven by the growth of companies in the banking, insurance, engineering and communications fields.

David Sher is a co-founder of Buzz12 Advertising and co-CEO of AmSher Receivables Management. He’s past Chairman of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce (BBA), Operation New Birmingham (REV Birmingham)), and the City Action Partnership (CAP).